The Benefits of Tummy Time and Rolling from a young age

Did you know that tummy time and rolling is an important part of bub's development?

It's Mizzie The Kangaroo's passion to help you give bub the best start in life, and we've got some good tips for you helping baby’s sensory development. Tummy time is one of them, and also a perfect time for Mizzie to help out!

Tummy time is the practice of placing baby on their stomach for periods of time allowing them to practice lifting their own head, building core muscles and aiding in sensory development. Tummy time is imperative for infant learning and growth and can be done from the moment you come home from the hospital and should be practiced up until the time bub has learned to crawl.

So, what’s so important about tummy time? The time spent on their stomach helps babies motor, visual and sensory development. When placed on their tummy, baby will naturally try to lift their head to observe the world around them. This helps them to exercise their core muscles, neck back and shoulders, strengthening them for rolling and crawling later. Tummy time aids in visual and sensory development as bub uses a different perspective to look around and survey their environment. Tummy time can also help to prevent early motor delays and conditions such as flat head syndrome.

The amount of time baby should spend on their tummy’s depends on their age and developmental progress. If baby is new to tummy time, start in small minute long increments several times a day, building as they grow. Ideally, bub should progress to one hour’s worth of tummy time per day by the time they reach 3 months old. This can be completed in multiple sessions. Once bub begins crawling, the benefits of crawling will negate those of tummy time and you can stop putting bub on their belly. Tummy time should always be done in small amounts to not distress baby, along with being completely supervised and while bub is awake.

Around the 3rd month mark, you may notice that when on their back, bub may begin trying to roll over onto their stomach themselves. This is a natural progression from tummy time practices through to crawling. You can encourage bub by placing bright items (such as Mizzie) above their head in their eyeline for them to focus on tilting their head and moving their body to get a better look at it. With continued practice bub will eventually learn to use his body to roll over for an unobstructed view of Mizzie and before you know it trying to figure out how to get mobile.

Mizzie makes a great tummy time companion for your baby at any time during his tummy time experience. When placed in front of bubs just above their eyeline, they can focus on Mizzie’s bright colour as they pushes themselves physically to look at her. The need to touch Mizzie will also be a driving factor in bubs keeping their head up. Mizzie is also a great too for encouraging rolling over for these same reasons. As bubs explore their physical self, they will try different methods of getting to Mizzie to have a play with her.